THE AZOREAN TRADITIONAL COSTUME AS A SIGN OF REGIONAL IDENTITY

AND CULTURE: FROM CLOTHING TO JEWELLERY

SYLVIE CASTRO1, LEONOR SAMPAIO DA SILVA2, JOANA CUNHA3
1
Departamento de Línguas, Literaturas e Culturas, Universidade dos Açores, sylvie.alves.castro@gmail.com
2
Departamento de Línguas, Literaturas e Culturas, Universidade dos Açores, maria.ls.silva@uac.pt
N
Departamento de Engenharia Têxtil, Universidade do Minho, jcunha@det.uminho.pt

Abstract:
The paper offers an analysis of the symbolic importance of material culture. Our starting premise is that
clothing is a cultural document of a given time and space, as it participates in the formation of individual
and collective identities. Bearing this in mind, we’ll study the female traditional costume of the Azores with
a view to improving knowledge on the archipelago’s culture and to creating new visual objects that not only
embody the cultural legacy of the islands but also capitalise on environmental resources and endogenous
elements. In order to accomplish our purpose, we’ll analyse the islands’ historic background from the point
of view of culture, economy and politics, and reflect on the role played by culture in preventing the risk of a
de-characterised global world, as well as a force that ensures resistance, empowerment and sustainability.
Finally, we’ll seek to enhance the future life of the traditional costume by using it as an inspiration for the
creation of jewels. It is our aim to demonstrate the power of contemporary jewellery. Contemporary design
can both preserve the community’s identity and transform the visual object into a message that travels
across frontiers and unites different peoples.

Key words: Azorean culture, identity, traditional costume, jewellery, sustainability.

1. Introduction
One way of understanding the nexus between culture and identity is to highlight the autonomous
development of identities as a means of fighting patterns of thinking and acting based on uniformity.
Another approach underlines the importance of culture in preserving identity traits alongside the
preservation of the natural environment and cultural heritage. A third approach brings the focus onto the
effect of creative activities for personal well-being and for the formation of community spaces of belonging.
As we study the first two approaches, it becomes clear that there is an overlapping of culture and identity,
as they share a common ground where questions are asked about who we are, both collectively and
individually, and measures are adopted for protecting our cultural legacy. When the Heads of State of the
nine Member States of the European Community met in Copenhagen to write the “Declaration on the
European Identity”, on the 14th of December 1973, they considered crucial to emphasize the need to
“preserve the rich variety of their national cultures” and to stress the fact that from “the diversity of
cultures within the framework of common European civilization” ensues a key element in giving European
identity “its originality and its own dynamism”. As Hawkes would later say, culture participates actively in
strengthening a set of values and priorities at the heart of identity: democracy, inclusion, creativity,
imagination, freedom, justice, peace, health, vitality are some of the elements that help define who we are
and the society we live in, being, therefore, the broad terrain where these two concepts meet (Hawkes,
2001, p.7).1

2. A brief analysis of Culture and Identity

At this point, it may prove useful to clarify the sense in which each term is used. By culture we mean the
definition adopted by Cultural Studies – the sphere where meaning is produced and put into circulation, the
arena where conflict, protest and resistance coexist with conformity and acceptance of representations
regarding the subject and the way social roles become fixed. Under the influence of Cultural Studies,
culture became attached to ordinary life, to conscience, to power, to popular mediated entertainment and
to the validation of minority identities. It also became obvious the heterogeneous and multi-discursive
character of the field, including production relations (economics), power networks (politics), active
citizenship (education) and symbolic representation (artistic and non-artistic).
Within this enlarged territory, identity occupies an important place. Recent theories on identity formation,
namely those originating in media studies, claim that identity cannot be studied as an isolated concept,
separated from culture, education or politics. As stated by Hartley (2002, p.100), these theories “often refer
to representations and their cultural consequences”.
Though sharing common ground, the distinctive elements of each of these areas must be known. Identity
concerns the awakening of self-conscience and self-assertion, along with the formation of shared spaces of
belonging and the struggle to validate their difference. It is, therefore, relational and oppositional; it
“involves claiming characteristics attributed to another in order to make sense of the self” (Hartley, p.100).
In a similar manner, Freitas Junior and Perucelli (2019, p.112) declare that identity is both a person’s
predilections and the specific place of belonging which is shaped by culture, including the symbolic grid,
beliefs and values that made teh community's history. According to this perspective, culture is the basis
upon which identity is shaped, the initial bond in which decisions, preferences and influences take place
and interplay. Culture, therefore, intervenes actively in the formation and understanding of identity.
Luis Urrieta (Urrieta & Noblit, 2018, p.3) identifies the three main reference terms involved in identity
matters: the subject, the group and the community. It is a process in which adhesion to groups and
communities is defined, thus leading to the emergence of multiple loyalties in which conscience strives to
make sense of the many stimuli generated by society. The latter aspect explains why identity is neither
monolithic nor stable – it changes and evolves in the course of time following the layers of experiences,
activities and knowledge that we add up regarding ourselves and the others, as life unfolds.
More important than to ask “Who am I?” or “Where do I come from?” is to understand who we are
becoming, both in personal and collective terms, «how we have been represented and how that bears on
how we might represent ourselves” (Hall, 1996, p.4). In this context, creative activities are important
factors allowing us to adjust to our roots without letting them define us forever. Part of who we are, or are
becoming, is formed within images, narratives and several other kinds of representations. Identity is
formed within “figured worlds” (Holland et al., 1998), spaces where people “figure” who they are “through
the activities and in relation to the social types that populate these worlds” (Urrieta e Noblit, 2018, p.19).
Workplaces, schools and leisure zones are key spaces to “figure” and to trigger actions of self-conscience
and transformation.
As to the keyword in studying identity, Urrieta is very clear: “Identity is about power. Power is at the root of
who «counts» as belonging to identity, as well as who is able to self-define, self-identify, and deny to others
their identity” (Urrieta & Noblit, 2018, p.4). As stressed by Stuart Hall, identity resorts to power “to exclude,
to leave out, to render ‘outside’” (Hall, 1996, p.5). Power is central not only in cultural analysis but also in

1
em: https://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/1999/1/1/02798dc9-9c69-4b7d-b2c9-
f03a8db7da32/publishable_en.pdf
identity studies, being a common thematic priority and unifying element in studies that would otherwise be
compromised by an almost unlimited set of diverse interests.
Power is, thus, at the heart of culture and of identity. It is crucial to understand the mechanisms of power
production and distribution, be it material, social or symbolic, so that patterns of domination/dependence,
oppression/agency are known and made clear what is validated or reprehended, who is heard and who is
ignored, so that all identities are treated equally and benefit from the same rights and opportunities.
In the last years of the 20th century, contributions from anthropology (Holland et al., 1998), feminism
(Butler, 1990), cultural studies (Hall, 1996) and literature (Moya, 2002) offered a new perspective, following
the very influential paper of Davies and Harré which has paved the way for a shift from focusing on the
‘social role’ to selves ‘positioning’ themselves through language as the best way to study identity and
power relations. The authors argued that self-positioning often emerges from speech acts and symbolic
representations. Discourse acts and representations are an important tool of empowerment, resistance,
will and agency. Cultural processes dealing with creative action in several systems of representation
promote imagination, improvisation, and innovation, breaking down deterministic patterns and
dependence schemes.
Authorship brings satisfaction. Voicing one’s opinion grants empowerment. Identity formed in the context
of symbolic and creative action strengthens collective ties, promotes a feeling of belonging and agency in
change-making, generating in return a feeling of self-accomplishment. In a similar manner, Moran (2011)
highlights that identity is shaped by the joint forces of the self and the others. The claim of association is
always present as a powerful force. Performances allow individuals to stage different forms of acting in life,
which broadens their potential for choosing who they want to be and who they want to become. It is
worthy to recall that through cultural performance the individual is placed at the centre of both cultural
activity and social and political action.

3. Portuguese and Azorean Identity

As we study national and regional identity, we come across the strong nexus that it keeps with language.
According to Barker, “the very notion of what it is to be a person is a cultural question […] and without
language the very concept of identity would be unintelligible to us” (2004, p. 93). In other words, our
identity is made intelligible via several codes, be it verbal, visual, musical, gastronomical, or other. What is
worth noticing is that, as it is transported by language, identity shares meanings and takes place within a
communicative context in which a sender and a receiver meet to convey a message. In such a background,
clothing may be seen as a text that carries a message as well.
Alongside language, politics is another factor equally relevant in identity formation. For Mattoso it is the
State that creates and sustains Portuguese identity, which explains why the process of the outbreak of
national conscience was “very slow and its popular expression so belated”, having only reached “the lower
strata and sectors of the Portuguese population after the formation of the State and the completion of its
centralization and strengthening” elements, that is when it “obtained the full monopoly of public power, in
the 19th and 20th centuries” (1998,pp. 82-83)
Continuing in the same line of thought, the author clarifies that the State serves as the bonding agent of
the differences that are stabilised for identity purposes. In his words, the Portuguese State aggregated a
series of territories that had “sharp cultural differences and very distinct living conditions”. What unified
them was “the continuity of a political power capable of dominating the whole in a firm and centralized
manner” (Mattoso, 1998, p. 39).
It is worth remarking how the national political power is repeatedly characterised as highly “firm” and
“centralising”. That may have been the outcome of a historical process in which the territorial smallness
encouraged expansionist ambitions of Muslim, Spanish and French neighbours. This geographical trait is
even considered by Eduardo Lourenço one of the traumas in Portuguese culture, and one lying at the root
of colonialism and dictatorship – both being responses against the threats posed by smallness and disorder
brought from abroad.
Exploring another pathway, some studies (Hall, 2006, p. 77) have argued that identity formation processes
are strongly attached to the socioeconomic fabric, being identity and consumption an inevitable correlation
in a global world. In this respect, it is crucial to think how local and global interact. Instead of considering
that global will replace local, there are benefits in articulating global and local. In what concerns this aspect,
one should bear in mind that Portuguese culture has been markedly rural and national economy very much
dependent on the fertility of the soil and the sea, which allowed local development and global contacts.
In general, the autonomous region of the Azores replicates national identity traits. Sharing the same
language and cultural legacy, socioeconomic and political sectors have also followed the trends visible in
Portuguese mainland. Any difference lies on an intensified expression of poverty, a more difficult access to
power structures and a deeply rooted awe aroused by geological manifestations, such as earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions.
Insularity intensified the economic hindrances of the Azoreans. In 1862, the regional newspaper A
Persuasão [The Persuasion] praised the good behaviour of the population and the orderly public life, even
in the absence of local armed authorities. At the same time, it described the striking divergence between a
prosperous land and the miserable conditions of the poor, who were forced to feed on “unhealthy,
indigestible and repulsive roots plucked on the hills” (Dias, 2008, 60).
Other reports speak of an “opulent, majestic and rich” land, inhabited by a “sacrificed” populations due to
the “poor distribution of property, the rudimentary agricultural techniques, the excessive weight of taxes
and contributions, the injustice of military conscription […], the absence of public system of education, the
difficult communication between settlements, the islands and between the islands and the nation” (Dias,
2008, 61. Italics by the author). It was poverty that chained the population to an unbending course of which
only emigration offered a way out.
Among the educated elites, political opposition meant claiming autonomy for the archipelago. In the last
decade of the 19th century, the autonomic movement grew through a campaign carried out by articles
published in the regional press and by political rallies. Aristides Moreira da Motta, an Azorean
representative in Chamber of deputies, wrote a draft bill, on the 31st of March 1892, on Azorean autonomy
in which he laid down the rights ascribed to the regional districts with a view to granting them power to
organise public services. This draft bill originated in 1895 a decree with decentralising prerogatives.
Culturally, emigration waves of Azoreans seeking better living conditions in Brazil (19th century) and, later,
in the USA and Canada, brought long-lasting consequences that are still felt on the islands to this day.
Emigration was dictated by socioeconomic motives and led to fruitful impacts on the symbolic sphere. The
most emblematic example is the painting by Domingos Rebelo The Emigrants (1926, Collection of Carlos
Machado Museum). This painting, in turn, inspired two other works by other Azorean painters: The
Returners [Regressantes (1987)], by Tomaz Borba Vieira, and The Shipwreckers [Os Naufragantes (2006)],
by Urbano.
Besides language, politics and economy, many authors follow Hall’s idea that identity is a moveable
celebration, continuously formed and transformed by the surrounding cultural systems that heckle and
urge us to respond to their representations (Hall, 2006, p.12-13). As an example, Hall argues that these
systems should welcome not only works of art, but also human necessities derived from cultural industry.
According to the author, national cultures produce meanings that are contained in the stories told about
the nation, “memories that connect past and present” (Hall, 2006, p. 51).
The fundamental function of narratives for identity building is thus determined: the above mentioned
“stories” transport meanings and with them we interpret the world and decide where and how to position
ourselves in it, assuming roles and creating representations. As these stories, roles and representations are
subject to change whenever the context is altered, it’s important to ascertain how much nationality,
gender, class, age, place of residence, schooling, life experience, travelling, etc. weigh on identity
formation, as well as which questionings and certainties are embodied in it.

As we’ve mentioned, regional culture displays meaning from different kinds of representations. The
paintings by Domingos Rebelo, Tomaz Borba Vieira e Urbano strike important chords at the heart of
Azorean identity: emigration due to poverty, inefficient political legislation to overcome economic
constraints, unequal distribution of power. In a similar manner, traditional costumes speak about the
archipelago’s identity. As they are constantly subject to change, all these identity symbols allow current
times to engage in a fruitful dialogue with the past and renew former meanings, adjusting them to
contemporary taste and vocabulary. It happened with the paintings, as with clothing. Such will be the main
concern of the next two sections.

4. The traditional insular costume: São Miguel (Azores)

The traditional costume records the history of a people. Since the dawn of humanity, men and women have
needed to cover their bodies with fur and textiles, at first to protect themselves from the extremes of the
climate and, later, to respect norms of social coexistence and decorum.
In this context Teixeira (2009, p.356) says, the textile rectangle has the ductility of being horizontal, vertical
and diagonal, of being able to make a winding, of snaking the human figure, of curling up in it and of
embracing it in a gesture of love, protection and maternal and female affection.
Traditional costume is associated with popular culture, representing the economic power and resources of
the lower classes. Objects tend to be very similar, as is the technique underlying their production. The
power of the singular signature is not found there, but its adequacy to the context and the service that the
objects provide as factors of integration in the community. Both the fabrics and the models and accessories
that complement them are material elements that seek to express the daily lives of communities, in
addition to the meanings associated with festive days.
In the specific case of São Miguel and following the research of Maria Luísa Ataíde da Costa Gomes, no
characteristic female costume existed before 1850, but only a few picturesque garments worthy of
mention, such as the «Capote e Capelo» [Traditional Azorean Cape and Hood] (Gomes, 1955, p.115). In
support of the above, the author states that there is no knowledge of any «original costume» having been
taken by Azorean emigrants to Brazil. What becomes clear at the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to
the collection made by ethnographers, is that, in São Miguel, the preferred colors are blue, white, pink and
dark red, purplish (carnation color) (Gomes, 1956, p. 225), as opposed to Terceira, where there is a passion
for strong and bright colors (idem, ibidem). The texts that this author has published in the magazine
Insulana indicate that it is thanks to the creation of folkloric groups that the regional costume as we know it
today is formed. In 1956, she started to suggest ways of constituting a regional costume: eliminating
influences from Madeira's embroidery, since the resources of our Islands, in this matter, are more than
enough for the costumes to reappear as picturesque and pure as possible; to take back pieces of old rustic
clothing, such as the thin straw «abeiros» (wide-brimmed hats), the embroidered «patronas» (large
pockets); to distinguish pieces from São Miguel and Terceira (the old embroidery of the galoshes' flaps
could be used in Terceira, keeping ours with the simple black polished ornaments (Gomes, 1956, p.226)). At
the end of this text, entitled «Trajos regionais dos Açores» [Regional costumes of Azores], the author
establishes a relationship between the maintenance of the regional artistic heritage and the formation of
folkloric groups, that does not dispense the foreseeable competition with counterparts national and foreign
(Gomes, 1956, p. 227).
The costumes made known through folklore groups would have resulted from an effort of (re)constitution
of the ancient legacy, dispersedly found in rustic pieces or in the memory that the lower classes would have
of them. Included in these pieces were details such as the fake “patronas” – which were used to carry
money, with ornaments such as little cloth flowers to finish off the heart-shaped opening (Gomes, 1955, p.
118). Another characteristic of women's clothing was the head always covered with the shawl, or skirt, two
scarves, or scarf and «capelo» [traditional Azorean hood] (Gomes, 1955, p. 118).
By the caption of an illustration of the women's costume in use in 1850, we know that the women wore a
light-colored scarf, white robe with puffy waistband, decorated with uncharacteristic embroidery, pleats,
white or colored herringbone stitch, skirt and apron made on the loom, or «castorina» [soft and brilliant
woollen fabric] skirt embroidered with herringbone stitch and apron to be highlighted with hems as well
(Gomes, 1955, p. 120). The «capote e capelo» [traditional Azorean cape and hood] was used to go out on
the street.
Both the illustration and the description are based on oral testimonies. They strive for some austerity in the
simplicity of the decorative elements and even the sobriety of the colors. For this reason, the author
commits to improve the known legacy. It is worth noting the use of the first-person verbal:
Com o bordado regional azul enriqueci o roupão, que anteriormente era só ornado a refegos, ponto de espinha
e bordados incaracterísticos. Desenhei em diversos quadros os mais interessantes motivos regionais, tirados de
velhas colchas de Água de Pau, já quase completamente desaparecidas, arquitectura, mobiliário rústico,
iluminuras, isqueiros riscados à navallha pelos cabreiros, etc., para, de uma forma prática, serem esses motivos
bordados nos aventais e barras das saias tecidas no tear.
[With the regional blue embroidery, I enriched the robe, which was previously only decorated with pleats,
herringbone stitch and uncharacteristic embroidery. I drew in several paintings the most interesting regional
motifs, taken from old Água de Pau bedspreads, now almost completely disappeared, architecture, rustic
furniture, illuminations, lighters razor scratched by the goatherds, etc., to, in a practical way, be these
embroidered motifs on the aprons and hems of the skirts woven on the loom.] (Gomes, 1955, pp. 121-122.)

The proposed reconstruction chooses white, blue and bright pink as the main colors – colors, according to
the author, «preferred by our people» and which, coincidentally, are also found in the hydrangeas that line
the regional roads in the first weeks of summer. Enthusiastically, the author updates the description
provided for the first illustration, with a second image and description. This time she adds new details: skirt
with a light “pink meringue” hem, embroidered in capuchins with the same blue, pink apron with hem in
the same way, white underskirts, embroidered by hand, white lace stockings, made by hand, toe overshoes
pointed galoshes and black polishing strip. (Gomes, 1955, p. 129). Note the sophisticat*ed choice of the
shade of light “pink meringue”, unequivocally the result of a refined taste that impregnates the
reconstitution of the past according to the preference of the elite and represents the desire for cultural
affirmation of the archipelago both nationally and internationally.
We know from Arruda Furtado that in 1884 women almost always wore, over their shirts, a strong skirt
made of rough serge or woven patchwork blankets, like bed blankets (Gomes, 1955, p. 123). Lace,
underskirts and embroideries were excluded from a poor and destitute daily life, although they appeared
during festive seasons.

Bearing in mind the particular case of São Miguel, it is important to underline the sharp contrast between
the cape and hood, which survived until the first decades of the 20th century, both as an outerwear and as
a concealment factor. An article published in Revista Michaelense in 1919 asserted that the first
appearance of this costume had served the purpose of expressing the shame that Portuguese women felt
for the Spanish administration in Portugal. Made of strong and thick cloth, dark blue or black, it consisted of
the “Capote”, a round cape that covered the woman up to her feet, and the “Capelo”, a wide head covering
resting on the shoulders and supported by a whalebone bow and hemp lining, which ensured its shape and
consistency. With sober colors and heavy fabric, it contrasts with the attire associated with festive rurality,
the latter partially redone with the intention of communicating a colorful and beautiful image in tune with
the colors of the landscape. The first covered almost entirely the female figure, from head to toe. The
second, adapted from testimonies and memories, is shorter and lighter, the skirt is higher, the colors more
cheerful, chosen to correspond to the taste of the people and to the framework of the natural landscape.
Figure 1: Female attire: on the left, “Capote e Capelo” [traditional Azorean Cape and Hood] (São Miguel, Azores). Source:
http://www.icpd.pt/arquivo/ver.php?id=1646 ICPD/Coleção Fotográfica Digital: PT/ICPD/CFD.01604.
On the right, Folk costume. Source: http://artesanato.azores.gov.pt/artesanato/tecelagem/

We can conclude that, thanks to the efforts of a wealthy elite committed to the affirmation of regional
identity, the Azorean insular costume, similarly to other national and foreign regions, ended up being
formed between monochrome and polychrome, that is, between the explosion of joy and the sense of
interiority (Teixeira, 2009, p.376). Another conclusion points to the fact that it constitutes an instrument of
power: not only the interest in its recovery and preservation emerges within the São Miguel elite, but also
aims to affirm the beauty of the region as well as the competence of the artisans. It was hoped that its
knowledge would bring recognition to this region in natural and heritage terms.
A final aspect to point out is the pedagogical dimension that the same elite considered essential to this
entire process. The vision that Maria Luísa Costa Gomes has of the people is that they are “uneducated”,
permeable to cinema images, and, therefore, “entontecido pelo fulgor de cetins baratos e vistosos, que
chegam da América” [dazed by the glow of cheap and showy satins that arrive from America] (Gomes,
1955, p. 114). It needs to “be guided”; failure to do so is a “serious fault” (idem, ibidem). Mirroring a power
network dominated by the higher socioeconomic classes, the regional costume is thus an identity
instrument that, in the name of the people, displays an unpopular taste and cultural agenda.

5. The adornments: jewelry

In addition to clothing, traditional costume also uses adornments to cover the fabrics worn or even to cover
certain parts of the body. These accessories are wrapped in symbolism and evoke the profession and social
status of the wearer. From hoods, hats, handkerchiefs, flat boots or cape, the Azorean costume integrates
these elements. However, it is limited in the incorporation of jewelry, unlike what happens in other regions
of the country. Therefore, with this research we intend to create visual objects that allow adding value to
the existing costumes.
Since the reality between the insular and continental context was unequal, in terms of socio-economic
power, an attempt is made to balance inequality with the continent, which is much richer and more
stunning from a visual and aesthetic point of view. The reasoned creation of a jewelry collection for the
insular reality intends to create the perfect and balanced symbiosis between the visual proposal and the
theoretical study, in the sense that, in addition to becoming an element of contemporaneity of the
continuum of insular culture and identity, it also build as a supplement to the existing insular costumes, in
this specific case, for the island of São Miguel (Azores), as an expression of the wealth that, over time, the
island produced and the political power that, in the meantime, acquired through the conquest of
autonomy.
Through the use of illustration – drawing with the watercolor technique – we sought to match the
iconography of the costume represented by scarf, shirt, skirt and apron, to which is added the proposal of a
jewel associated with existing patterns, so that we can reduce the aforementioned asymmetry. The starting
point began with the correspondence of each island to a color, found both in Raul Brandão's work, As Ilhas
Desconhecidas [The Unknown Islands], and in the Azorean Almanaque2: Santa Maria - yellow island - due to
the broom (genisteae) that abounds there; São Miguel - green island - because of the pastures and forests;
Terceira - lilac island - from the trellis of lilacs; Graciosa - white island - for its white stones; São Jorge -
brown island – due to the rocks at Ponta dos Rosais; Pico - gray island - for its mountain; Faial - blue island -
by the blue hydrangeas; Flores - pink island - due to azaleas; Corvo - black island – for the lava and walled
fields. We sought inspiration there for the design of this jewel, as shown in the following image.

Figure 2: Watercolour studies, on the left, of São Miguel’s costume, for jewellery creation. Right: vector drawing.

The necklace consists of eight pieces, culminating in the ninth, which is the representation of the Island of
São Miguel – located below the heart; assumed as the green island and which has six basalt volcanic stones
that represent the six municipalities of São Miguel: Lagoa, Nordeste, Ponta Delgada, Povoação, Ribeira
Grande and Vila Franca do Campo. The jewel appears in the sense of reusing existing endogenous
resources, namely basalt – a stone already incorporated by other Azorean artists such as the jeweler Paulo
do Vale. The colors will be obtained using the ancestral technique of enamel. All the pieces are represented
with the same symbol, the Heart, in an oval piece, almost as if it were volcanic pebbles, in the sense that it
is inspired in the shirt embroidery. Assuming thus a heterogeneity regarding the individuality of each Island
and a homogeneity in the whole as a geographical area, Azores. The square pieces that intersperse the 8
hearts represent the Cross of Solomon, with the representation of two intertwined triangles, which
symbolizes the transformation and the divine protection, which appears in the aprons as a pattern, just as it

2
V. https://www.almanaqueacoriano.com/index.php/artigos/1074-cores-das-ilhas
also appeared in times gone by, in the cradles of young children and on agricultural implements in order to
protect the blessed. This jewel is designed to be realized and executed together with artisans from São
Miguel, given the fact that the region's resources are identitary and unique in their execution, and because
it intends to be a sustainable jewel, since it uses Earth materials, with a view to enhance female power.

Figure 3: Detailed design of the jewel, on the right, for the Traje de São Miguel, with the inspiration elements. Own source. Left:
Female costume of the folkloric group Cantares e balhados da Relva, with a simulation of the jewel. Photo by Vitor Melo.

6. Final considerations
We started by establishing the relationship between culture and identity as a way of basing the creation of
a jewel that represented the Azorean regional identity and repositioned it in the contemporary era,
emphasizing both the interest of its identity legacy and the new position of the region at the national level.
We established as a theoretical basis the idea that culture carries meanings and participates in the creation
of places of belonging and well-being, in the same way that identity represents individual and collective
evolution, not being a static concept, but a dynamic one. We then verified how the Azorean and
Portuguese culture and identity are similar, and we refer to the economic and political asymmetries that
resulted in profound difficulties for the archipelago, having caused emigration flows since the 19th century.
The analysis of the Azorean regional costume allowed us to understand the stories it tells, to relate it to the
characteristics of the landscape and to the desire of a literate elite to make known the beauty and talent of
regional handicrafts beyond the insular borders. It is worth noting how poverty and regional periphery
stand out from regional clothing, quite simple and sober, in its most genuine version, worn by the lower
classes. In this sense, it is the intervention of the elite that makes both economic and political progress, as
well as advancing the costume for greater visual expressiveness and external affirmation.
Finally, we proposed a jewel that could give visibility to the region, following a dynamic identity sense. In
fact, if, in the past, the Azores struggled with a situation of periphery from the political, economic, and
cultural point of view, nowadays, an agricultural industry and tourism, the political autonomy and the
cultural strength of the region put it in a different situation. The proposed jewel not only reflects this
change but is also expected to collaborate to strengthen identity bonds, at an internal level, and to
accentuate archipelagic knowledge at a national and international level.
Culture and identity are no longer fixed in the past, but use different techniques to enhance creation,
innovate and associate tradition and our cultural heritage with what we want to be and do in the future. If,
in the mid-19th century, the focus on regional costume served to affirm the region through the creation of
folk groups and make it known to the world, in the 21st century, adding a collection of jewelry to this
costume could contribute to the region to recognize the lively character of its past, a source of inspiration
for a new centrality in which culture is valued as a creative, sustainable and identity-renewing language.

Acknowledgments

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